David Cameron warns of humanitarian crisis in Syria

David Cameron tells the Commons that the situation in Syria has continued to
deteriorate and reiterated his support for lifting the EU arms embargo on
the Syrian opposition.

7:17PM BST 03 Jun 2013

David Cameron said the situation in Syria continued to deteriorate, telling the Commons the UK was leading the way in bringing an end to the humanitarian crisis which has seen 80,000 civilians killed and five million forced to flee their homes.

He warned that unless the UK showed more support to the official opposition, the Syrian National Opposition, political change would not be possible and the extremists would continue to flourish.

He said: "That is why I believe it is right to lift the EU arms embargo on the Syrian opposition. There needs to be a clear sense that (president Bashar) Assad cannot fight his way to victory, nor use the talks to buy more time to slaughter Syrians in their own homes and on their own streets."

The Prime Minister went on to say that the EU arms embargo failed to stop extremists on both sides: "It didn't stop Assad massacring his people, it didn't stop the Russians sending him arms and it didn't stop Islamic extremists getting their hands on weapons either. It just sent a signal that, for all its words, the EU had no real ability to support the reasonable opposition that could be the basis of an inclusive transition."

He told MPs the Syrian National Opposition had been recognised as the legitimate representatives of the Syrian people, adding that there were safeguards to ensure that arms could only be supplied for the protection of civilians and in accordance with international law.